Windsor Tea Room

Ever notice how a cup of tea and a scone can slow life down, and make it a calmer and happier place?  When life suddenly turns your landlord into a psychotic nut and your life is in boxes, many a cuppa will get you through it.  That's right, folks, I've been silent because I've been apartment-hunting and then moving (still in the same area), but I am unpacking my new kitchen and really eager to get into the spirit of Christmas baking.

But I did make the time to explore a new tearoom with friends, and it was fun and delicious.  So head on over to our Boston Tea Party blog and read mine and Rebecca's takes on the Windsor Tea Room in Cohasset, and I'll get cookin' soon!

Apple Butter Hand Pies

I have only one complaint about this recipe, and it's that these mini-pies can't hold any more apple butter.  So I spread more on top of a hand pie like it's toast.  But spoon more apple butter inside and it just squeezes out the sides when the pastry is folded up.  The crust is nice too, made tender and slightly tangy with the addition of cream cheese, and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.  It comes out softer than your usual pie crust, almost like a cookie.  The pies are also good reheated in the toaster oven the day after.

The apple butter took some time to make, but not much work.  I used 6 pounds of Galas from the farmers market.  It was my first taste ever of apple butter, and I found it to be somewhere between applesauce and apple pie filling, and nicely spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, and clove.  You won't use it all up in the pies like the recipe indicates, but that's all right with me: The apple butter is also great on top of pancakes, or as part of a grilled cheese sandwich.  I think pear butter has to be next on my list.

Caramelized Pear Ice Cream

I've never had pear ice cream, and didn't know it could be this good.  The pear is refreshing, but the caramelization gives it a buttery flavor and creaminess, without any butter.  For this recipe in The Perfect Scoop, David Lebovitz recommends Comice or Bartlett pears, which he says have a heady, roselike aroma when ripe.  I found beautiful and fragrant red Comice pears at the grocery store.

I also made his recipe for Salted Butter Caramel Sauce to drizzle on top, but it's totally unnecessary and kind of redundant.  Joe's really been enjoying the caramel as a topping for vanilla ice cream, and the sauce is really easy to make.  But the Pear-Caramel Ice Cream is delicious all on its own.

This post was shared with:
Tea Party Tuesday
Sweet Treats Thursday
Sweet Tooth Friday
Sweets for a Saturday

Chipotle Chicken and Rice

This dish has gone through several incarnations, but its origins were in a dish called Pollo Estofado.  I liked this chicken and rice dish from my sister's ex, and made some changes for convenience and personal taste.  He served rice on the side in addition to potatoes in the dish; I was looking to avoid carb overload so I threw out the potatoes, and decided the green bell peppers should go too.  In the end, I browned the chicken with aromatics, then cooked the rice in the same saute pan -- the chicken ends up infusing the rice with its flavor.  Frozen peas are stirred in at the end and warmed through, adding a bright green.

But now I have one more revision.  Inspired by a similar Martha Stewart recipe I saw online that looked hopelessly fussy, I added chipotles to my dish for added flavor and heat.  The two chipotles made the spice level barely warm, so I would use four next time.  Point of reference: I'm a spice wimp, so if you like it hot you may want to amp it up with even more chiles.

Shredded Pork in Red Chili

As much as I complain about the ending of summer, it's always exciting when the time to make cold-weather comfort food arrives.  This recipe seemed like the answer to that pork loin stashed in my freezer, and I was intrigued by the idea of a pork chili.  In my hurry, I shaved an hour off the cook time and the meat was still fall-apart tender.

I made a few changes.  For one, the recipe doesn't say how much hominy to use, so I just left it out.  Also, I'm not fond of yuca and didn't have any, so I substituted a sweet potato.  I felt the sweet potato absorbed too much salty flavor, and might be inclined to leave it out or cook it separately next time.  And as a spice wuss I cut down on the dried chiles and chipotle.  The verdict: Joe was crazy about this dish, and I thought it was OK.  It was good, but I didn't feel wowed, like something was missing.  And not just the tongue-sear from omitting some chiles.  I might give it another go, now that we're officially in Dutch oven season.

Sarabeth's Maple Muffins

Muffins often don't impress me, but the recipe for these Maple Muffins caught my eye right away.  Joe got me Sarabeth's Bakery: From My Home to Yours as one of my Christmas gifts a year ago, and I was drawn to the photo with the golden sides and crackly tops.  I also love maple syrup as a flavoring.  On first bite, I was surprised because I expected a more assertive maple flavor.  But it's more subtle, kind of lightly perfumed with maple, and the walnuts taste a little salty by comparison.  Winner.

An additional bonus was how easy the recipe was.  Especially compared with the Pains au Chocolat (chocolate croissants) and Pains aux Raisins I made from the book earlier this year!  A negative?  Pure maple syrup is an expensive ingredient, and the Grade B (it's superior to Grade A) this recipe calls for isn't always sold in supermarkets.  My tip is to buy it at Trader Joe's if there's a location near you, since it had the Grade B available and was more affordable.

Also worth mentioning is that I made these in a cupcake pan, and the leftover batter in mini brioche molds.  I don't own a muffin pan, and even I have a limit with how much I cram in my kitchen.  Sarabeth writes that she's not a fan of paper muffin liners, and I have to agree because the muffins got the most beautiful, golden brown sides without them.  If you also opt for a cupcake pan, cut the cooking time short by 5 minutes.

Finally, the recipe also calls for some whole wheat flour.  I like King Arthur's White Whole Wheat Flour because it's got all the nutrition of whole wheat, but its taste and consistency are closer to plain white flour.  The difference is that it's made from the white wheat berry instead of the red wheat berry, which is used for the more common whole wheat flour in stores.

This post was shared with:
Tea Party Tuesday
Sweet Treats Thursday
Sweet Tooth Friday
Sweets for a Saturday

"Austen" Cucumber Tea Sandwiches

I have not been able to get these sandwiches out of my head!  Rebecca from my Austen in Boston book club makes some awesome sandwiches, but these are my favorite, hands down.  Rebecca calls them "Austen in Boston" English Cucumber Tea Sandwiches.  We enjoyed them at our last picnic, and they are so good with a cup of tea -- with cream and sugar, of course.

This post also appears at Boston Tea Party.

Cucumber sandwiches are simple, but these get some complexity from herbs and good-quality bread.  Rebecca uses Ezekiel Bran for Life bread, but my store didn't have any so I went with Nature's Pride Nutty Oat (strangely, the packaging says it has a nutty flavor but no nuts, and it's 100% natural).  Even Joe loved the nutty oat, and he isn't always keen on the 12-grain-type breads I bring home.  Plus I think ordinary white bread is too bland for something as mild as cucumber.

Using a mandoline gives you uniform slices

The slices are paper-thin

Rebecca also uses organic cream cheese, nothing artificial.  I went with neufchatel cheese, which tastes just like cream cheese but has a third less fat.  Philadelphia makes one.  I went with the English seedless cucumber she recommended -- it has less water and seeds than regular cucumber -- as well as the dill.  Rebecca recommends dried chives as an alternative and says they're better than fresh.  I used both dill and fresh chives, since I have chives growing in my garden and personally love them fresh.

Slathering cream cheese on half of the bread

Slightly overlap layers of cucumber, then repeat once

These few ingredients make up a sandwich both delicate for tea and snacking, but hearty enough to fill you up, to my surprise.  Now, I once made cucumber sandwiches on this blog way back when, but in retrospect I didn't have a great formula.  You need the right ratio of cucumber slices to cream cheese to bread, and this recipe has it.  I foresee many chilly afternoons with these babies and a hot pot of tea.